Deputy President Paul Mashatile met with chief executives from some of the biggest multinational businesses in Europe on Thursday (20 July), holding engagements over partnerships between South Africa and the EU and several concerns about the country.

The dialogue was hosted by the French South Africa Chamber of Commerce and The African Storyteller, a public affairs consultancy with representatives of large European companies in Johannesburg.

The meeting was attended by almost forty CEOs and senior leadership from companies such as AB Inbev, Alstom, B Braun SA, BMW, Bureau Veritas, Engie, Grupo Pereira, Gran Solar, Heineken, Ibercham Group, Interwaste, Mazars, South African Breweries, Siemens, Swissport South Africa, TOTAL Energies Unilever, and Volkswagen, amongst others.

According to the office of the presidency, the aim of the session was to hold discussions between business leaders and harness available expertise to find ways to grow the South African economy and create much-needed jobs.

As part of the discussions, the CEOs raised several issues of concern and sought the government’s urgent intervention, warning that they were impeding further investment in the country.

The main issues of concern were:

• The ongoing energy crisis;
• The persistent logistics challenges, especially on the rail network;
• A lack of skills development and the slow absorption of young people into jobs and business;
• Continued challenges with business visas, especially long periods attached to getting them.

South Africa’s energy and logistics crises have been widely played out, with it being no surprise that these critical failures have impacted multinationals operating in South Africa and damaged economic output.

The skills crisis has also been a significant thorn in the side of business, with local skills lacking, and what little skills there are being lost to emigration (both physical and virtual) or fought over by various sectors in South Africa.

Meanwhile, businesses are also struggling to import the skills they need thanks to the backlogs and failures at Home Affairs in processing visas. Several businesses have described the environment as a “nightmare”.

On behalf of the CEOs present at the meeting, Dr Yves Guenon, Chairperson of the French South Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the national government needs to do more to engage with businesses to address these issues.

“For our businesses to grow and further contribute to growing the economy, we need to have regular touch points with the government as everything that the government does has a direct or indirect impact on our ability to succeed,” he said.

Addressing the gathering, Mashatile recognised that “investor confidence is essential for driving economic growth and development, creating jobs, and ensuring our nation’s prosperity”, adding that the government is working to make South Africa a better environment for business.

He said that the government is streamlining the regulatory procedures and trying to cut red tape by reducing excessively complex rules, regulations, procedures, and processes that impede economic growth and job creation in key sectors.

The dialogue concluded with the following resolutions:

• The South African government committed to building a stronger and more intentional working relationship with businesses in order to improve the country’s competitiveness and rebuild the economy.

• It noted that the economy is driven mainly by private sector investments, which provide jobs and revenues to the state through tax collection and through enabling broader economic participation, such as the inclusion of SMEs into the economic value chain.

• Acknowledged that investors from the European Union are key stakeholders, accounting for 25% of South Africa’s GDP and 75% of Foreign Direct Investment. The main European investors represent more than 300,000 direct jobs, and in total more than 1.5 million jobs, including indirect jobs.

• In turn, the European Union business leaders committed to growing South Africa’s economy amidst challenges.

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